---
title: A clay library survives 2,600 years but a paper one burns. Why does… — Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires · tree and pragmatics
description: A clay library survives 2,600 years but a paper one burns. Why does clay last? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 4 «Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A clay library survives 2,600 years but a paper one burns. Why does clay last?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** clay library, paper one, clay · **What happens:** survive, burn, last

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 4 «Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires» of the history course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A clay library survives 2,600 years but a paper one burns.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t6:1
# text = A clay library survives 2,600 years but a paper one burns.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	library	library	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	survives	survive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	2,600	2,600	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	burns	burn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **survive** | present | a clay library |  |  |  | year |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **burn** | present | a paper one |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why does clay last?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t6:2
# text = Why does clay last?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	last	last	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **last** | present · do-support | clay |  |  |  |  |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Baked clay does not rot or burn away easily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t6:o1:1
# text = Baked clay does not rot or burn away easily
1	Baked	bake	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	rot	rot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	burn	burn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	away	away	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bake** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **rot** | present · do-support | Baked clay |  |  |  |  |  | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **burn away** | infinitive | Baked clay *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away, easily *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Clay floats on water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t6:o2:1
# text = Clay floats on water
1	Clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	floats	float	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | present | Clay |  |  | water |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on water=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Paper was not allowed to be kept in libraries by law

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t6:o3:1
# text = Paper was not allowed to be kept in libraries by law
1	Paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	libraries	library	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | past · passive |  | Paper |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **keep** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive · passive | law |  |  | libraries |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent in library=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Clay is magic

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t6:o4:1
# text = Clay is magic
1	Clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	magic	magic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Clay |  |  |  |  | magic *property* | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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